Truth and Lies
by Stars of Gold
Summary: There are two Atobes in Jirou's life. One is in the world of tennis; the other is in the world of magic. One is in the world people deem 'reality'; the other is in the world they call 'dreams'. AtoJi, Shishitori, Oshigaku
1. Prologue

Truth and Lies

Prologue

Sometimes, the truth is all you need to know.

But sometimes, you need to know the lie before you can know the truth.

But never, never will you be able to tell what is true and what is a lie without knowing both sides of the same story.

There are two Atobes in Jirou's life. One is in the world of tennis; the other is in the world of magic. One is in the world people deem 'reality'; the other is in the world they call 'dreams'. Jirou's mother says that one is real and the other is a dream. Jirou, however, knows differently – both are real, at least to him, and he wants to keep it that way.

The Atobes are a lot alike – intelligent, arrogant, skilled, rich; the only difference is that one is insanely good at tennis and the other equally good at magic. In any case, both Atobe's are able to keep Jirou completely awake and out of the other world. Every time Jirou doesn't want to go to the other realm by accident, he asks for a match (be it a tennis match or a sparring match). Otherwise, Jirou's consciousness is divided, and he goes about his life in a hazy way people interpret as drowsiness.

Neither Atobe is aware of his condition. Jirou's mother (in the tennis world – both his parents in the magical world had passed during a war a few years back) had told him never to say anything to anyone because then he would be locked away in an asylum, and asylums weren't even remotely fun. Jirou doesn't consider his odd circumstances a curse; he's just happy he has so much time to spend with Atobe and all their friends.

This is Jirou's present life, and it is all about to change. It begins with a little slip on Jirou's part and more than a little alcohol.


	2. Chapter 1

Truth and Lies

Chapter 1

* * *

Jirou was drunk. Hopelessly, hopelessly drunk.

Atobe sighed and downed a shot himself; Jirou, the damned lightweight, had insisted that he was fine and that another drink wouldn't do any harm. Atobe had only agreed because Jirou had threatened to strip his shirt off in the middle of the bar crowded with big, burly men that reminded Atobe of thugs, an act that could get him raped – no, no, no, he meant _arrested_. Yeah, arrested for public indecency.

Thanks to that one lousy drink, Jirou was out cold. Atobe knew from previous experience that it was completely futile to even attempt to wake Jirou up. So instead, cursing the fact that Kabaji wasn't old enough to go drinking with them, Atobe lifted Jirou up and slung him over his shoulder in the fireman's lift.

"Ah, going already, Atobe-kun?" the bartender asked without taking his eyes off the game of Renddle projected on the wall. Atobe didn't blame him; it was the finals tonight. "It's only eleven."

"Jirou passed out," Atobe said by way of explanation and placed three gold coins on the table. "Keep the change."

And then Atobe left, carrying Jirou as easily as he would a sack of rice. It was too bad today was the one day in the month Atobe's magic was useless. Atobe's magic drew power from the moon, and the moon was off-duty today. Something about seeing her boyfriend a couple of galaxies away, Atobe hadn't really been able to catch the details thanks to the ill-tempered messenger who relayed about half the message before throwing down the scroll he'd been reading and yelling that he quit. Just as well, really, considering he'd yelled at AtobeKeigo, who was his boss' son.

The moon was technically his employee, too, but this one had forgotten to say anything until the last minute. Atobe would let her off with a stern lecture because she was new and had been working overtime, shining her brightest even when the sun was out. Atobe's magic had been exceedingly strong all throughout the day, and he had wisely stored away some magic in case of a rainy day.

"Where'm I?" Jirou mumbled blearily, blinking and lifting his head.

"On the way home. Can you walk?"

Jirou's eyes closed. "Mmm, not now, Keigo. M'playing a match... wi' 'Tobe..."

Atobe raised an eyebrow. "Playing a match?" he repeated. "Of what, Renddle?"

"'Course not, Kei. M'playing tennis. Doubles. Go 'way."

"Tennis?" Atobe repeated, his mouth curling around the unfamiliar word. "Doubles?"

Jirou grunted in annoyance. "You wouldn' know. You're magic, so you're Keigo. M'playing wi' 'Tobe; he's... mmm... he's tennis."

Atobe frowned. It sounded like this 'tennis' Jirou spoke of was a game he'd created in his mind – perhaps a sport? – and apparently dreamt he was in it every time he went to sleep. This world he'd created seemed to be an alternate universe parallel to the real one; even Atobe had been duplicated. It was unlikely, though, that he had dreams in the same world all the time, so that meant...

A spell.

But why? Why cast this sort of spell on Jirou?

A bright white ball of light materialized before them, and Atobe halted, cautious. "Jirou," he said, setting the smaller boy on the ground. Jirou almost crumpled, but Atobe managed to grab his arm and hook it around his neck. "Oi, Jirou, wake up!" he hissed. If something dangerous came out of that thing, Atobe wouldn't be able to take it out by himself. His reserve of magic wouldn't last long enough for a long battle.

There was a loud roar as something leaped gracefully out of the sphere of light and landed on all fours with an earth-shattering thud. The light dimmed and soon disappeared, leaving the creature narrowing its eyes at Atobe and Jirou.

"Jirou, wake up!" Atobe demanded in a hiss, nudging the older boy with a sharp elbow. Jirou grunted and cracked open an eye sleepily. "Whaaat?" he groaned. Then his eyes widened. "Oh, wow," he said, blinking and straightening. "M'I still drunk?"

"I suggest you heal yourself quickly," said Atobe, watching the beast, an incredibly large lion. "Hopefully it doesn't attack, but–"

The lion lunged forward, teeth and claws at the ready. The little light from the stars really didn't help much, but Atobe couldn't afford to waste magic conjuring a light. Instead, Atobe went by instinct (and hearing) and rolled out of the way in the nick of time. Jirou, thankfully, had done the same and already seemed more sober. Jirou shimmered silver for a moment, then shook his head to clear it. "I'm sober, I'm sober," he said, blinking and sending a light up to hang above them when he realized the lack of light.

"Good. Call the others. I'll keep it busy," Atobe commanded, easily slipping into his role as a leader thanks to the years of school at Hyoutei. He'd been the leader of his team of five, and he could still count on them for back up, even though they technically didn't have to obey him anymore.

Atobe summoned almost all of his magic and conjured a long, glowing sword. Wrapping both hands around the hilt, he ran up to the monster and hacked three of its eight claws off when it tried to scratch him.

The monster roared in pain and growled at Atobe before belching a fireball his way.

Two things went through Atobe's mind as he watched the fireball speed towards him in slow motion. The first was 'Damn, _now_ how am I supposed to claim my inheritance?' and the second was 'Oh, never mind.'

A jet of water had shot out of seemingly nowhere and put out the fireball completely. Atobe shook some of the water droplets out of his hair.

"Losing focus, Atobe?" taunted Oshitari, dropping gracefully from the invisible wind current he'd been riding on. Gakuto, who was still riding the current he'd conjured, blew a gust of wind at Atobe to rid him of water droplets. "You guys suck," he said, yawning. "The best fighters in our group and you can't get rid of a little kitty cat like this? Shame on you."

Jirou grinned at Gakuto. "Yo, Gakuto, come on down here and take on the kitty cat yourself!"

Gakuto humphed and sent a strong gust of wind at the lion, making the beast stumble and fall. "I'll stay here, thank you very much," he said, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, 'cause you're completely useless on the ground," taunted a new voice as its owner appeared suddenly before them.

"You can't even use an element, Shishido, so don't talk," retorted Gakuto.

Shishido bristled. "I happen to be able to use the element of wind, just like you, Mr. High-and-Mighty! Just because it happens to be in a different way–"

"An inferior way. You're a minor wind user and I'm a major wind user," Gakuto replied, smirking triumphantly.

"Mukahi, Shishido, focus on the task at hand," admonished Atobe, slicing another two talons off as the lion attempted to cut Oshitari's head off. He deftly dodged a swipe of the creature's massive paw and attempted to stab it in the belly with no success.

"Hmm," said Oshitari, crouching in between the beast's legs and punching its belly experimentally. "Well, this obviously isn't a normal lion, then," he said calmly, rolling out and jumping on the air current Gakuto was riding.

"Then what is it?" growled Shishido as he attempted to stab the creature in the tongue. He failed and narrowly avoided getting bitten, teleporting away in the nick of time.

"Maybe a robot or animatron of some sort?" Oshitari suggested. "Or perhaps a real lion who has been enhanced with magic."

Jirou paused. "It's alive," he stated after a moment. "I can hear his heartbeat and breathing." Jirou shot a blast of purple at the lion to distract it from maiming Shishido. "It's magic, too; I can sense the layer of magic in and around it. Fire and earth elemental."

"So I'm guessing you'll be wanting my expertise then?" Gakuto asked, flexing his fingers. "Though with a creature this size, I'm going to need help."

Atobe nodded curtly. "Shishido will help you. No arguments," he added with a sharp glare. Shishido and Gakuto closed their mouths. Oshitari dropped gracefully and Gakuto hopped, dismissing the air current and glaring at Shishido as the (slightly) taller boy grabbed him by the wrist.

"Jirou, you and I will have to switch. I don't have enough magic to make a significant difference to the attack," said Atobe. Jirou nodded and moved to stand next to Oshitari.

Gakuto closed his eyes and opened his palm out before slowly clenching his hand into a fist. The lion as confused at first, but soon realized what was happening. It fell to the ground soon after, twitching and gasping for air.

"Hurry... up..." hissed Gakuto, eyes still closed tightly. Shishido gripped Gakuto's wrist tighter, and Gakuto's expression eased slightly.

Jirou grabbed the back of Oshitari's neck and let power flow into the taller boy. Oshitari narrowed his eyes and aimed his hands at the beast's mouth. The power built up in Oshitari's body slowly as he added the new magic to his spell. It took him longer than usual; his body was unaccustomed to Jirou's unfamiliar, yellow magic as it was to Atobe's purple.

Gakuto was seeing double and feeling quite faint. Shishido squinted and grabbed Gakuto's outstretched arm to keep it from falling. "Come on, Oshitari, before Gakuto passes out!" he bellowed.

Oshitari tensed, then relaxed and released the spell in the lion's direction. Jirou felt it change from a steady stream of energy into a ball of water. He marveled at the magic, then watched as Atobe constructed a thick, translucent violet shield around them. Gakuto released the spell with great relief and fell on the ground panting. Shishido leaned against the shield wall, panting as he glared at Oshitari. "Take your time, why don't you," he commented. "Gakuto almost passed out!"

"Bastard," spat Gakuto. "Don't berate people for me; I can do that on my own."

"Oh, go to hell, midget," said Shishido.

"Drama queen."

"Whiny brat."

"Attention seeker."

"Hush," said Atobe impatiently, watching the beast carefully. The water had slammed into the beast harshly, and while the shield blocked out some of it, its screech of pain was hard to ignore. The lion was lying on the ground, but Atobe didn't let his guard down. It could have some sort of last resort. Some sort of life-sacrificing attack that could _really_ hurt. "Jirou?" he asked, knowing that the older boy would sense an attack.

Jirou squinted and focused. Something was wrong. Usually it was so easy for him to see magic, but today his senses were dull. He didn't like it.

"I don't know, Keigo," he said despairingly.

"You don't know?" Shishido repeated incredulously. "But you always know!"

"Never mind that," said Atobe. "Shield, now!"

The lion's body had begun to vibrate and glow a faint white. Four shields of varying colors came up only moments before the carcass exploded and let loose a spell powerful enough to have killed them all. The spell shattered Atobe and Gakuto's shields and Shishido's wavered, but Oshitari and Jirou's held strong.

"Man," said Gakuto as he fell back into Oshitari's protective embrace. "That was one pretty powerful spell."

Jirou dropped his shield and stared at the ground with a frown. "That was a lot of power," he murmured. "Enough to have killed us and left no trace of our bones." He could still feel the power pushing against his shield.

"Did it kill anyone in the vicinity?" asked Atobe.

Shishido disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing beside Jirou. "Looks like all the plants and animals within a kilometer's radius are dead, but there were only two houses that were within that radius, one of which was occupied by Seigaku's Yamato-san. He sensed the attack and shielded his and his neighbor's house, so both he and his neighbor are safe. Yamato-san should be arriving soon."

Atobe nodded once. "Good. Seigaku should be informed; if this thing attacked this area, its friends might attack other areas. Seigaku's blabbermouths will spread it around to the other areas."

"Duh, what with that no-good gossip Kikumaru with them," sneered Gakuto. "That bastard."

"Hello, ex-Hyoutei," said Yamato, popping out of virtually nowhere with his usual sunglasses and jacket tied around his shoulders.

"Why's he wearing sunglasses at night?" murmured Shishido to Jirou. Jirou shrugged. "'Cause he thinks it looks cool, that's why," he whispered back. "But I wonder how he doesn't bang into things–"

"I can sense objects around me and the vibrations that come from them," said Yamato. "Including vocal cord movements."

Shishido and Jirou exchanged a glance, then bowed as one. "Sumimasen," they said in unison.

"That's fine," said Yamato. "What happened here?"

Atobe stepped forward. "A big lion, enhanced with magic. It came through a portal. Its fur is like its armor; impenetrable. It was a fire/earth elemental, so I had Mukahi and Shishido choke it by cutting off its air supply, then had Jirou combine his powers with Oshitari's to launch a waterball into its open mouth."

Yamato nodded. "A strategy you used often during your days in the Academy, yes?"

Atobe nodded. "Yes."

"Very well, I will let the protectors know. Otsukaresama," said Yamato, disappearing just as suddenly as he came.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Prince of Tennis. If I did, it would be about Hyoutei. Or at least it wouldn't have that bloody idiot Ryoma. Bugger.


	3. Chapter 2

Truth or Lies

Chapter 2

* * *

"Jirou?"

Jirou slowly blinked his eyes open. "Ah," he mumbled sleepily. "I must have fallen asleep." Of course, he meant that he must have fallen asleep in the magic world, but Gakuto, who was hovering over Jirou worriedly, obviously thought Jirou meant otherwise.

"How could you have fallen asleep in the middle of a match?" demanded Shishido, who was crouched down on the other side of Jirou. "Baka! Do you know how _worried_ we all were?"

Jirou blinked. "I fall asleep all the time," he said, yawning.

"Yeah, but never in the middle of _match_ with _Atobe_!" argued Gakuto as Jirou sat up.

Jirou paused. "Oh," he said, remembering. "That's right. We were playing doubles, weren't we?"

"Hell yeah, and you were pretty good, too," said Shishido. "You were so hyped up and into it; then suddenly you just got really sleepy and eventually passed out."

"Atobe nearly killed Ryou," Gakuto snickered. "The ball would have hit you in the face if Atobe hadn't gotten to it first."

"Gakuto and I jumped over the net and carried you here, to the nurse's office," supplied Shishido. "Atobe wanted to do it, but he had practice to run and rumors to stop from spreading."

"The nurse isn't in, the bitch," added Gakuto. "Went off to see her boyfriend a couple of regions away."

"Why would she do that without waiting for a replacement?" snorted Shishido. Gakuto shrugged. "She's new, and she's been working overtime, too. They'll let her off. It's only for three days, anyway."

"Your family doctor's been called though. He'll be here in half an hour," supplied Ryou.

Jirou scrunched up his nose in dislike. "You called him?" His family doctor was really annoying, always treating him like a child or a mental patient thanks to Jirou's constant dreams of the other world. The magical world.

"We were forced," said Shishido apologetically. "We tried to tell Atobe that you hated the guy, but Atobe said that his office was the closest to school grounds and hated or not, he was still a doctor."

"You okay?" asked Gakuto worriedly. "That hasn't happened in years."

Jirou smiled. The last time he had to give up tennis-world for magic-world was during the senior year finals during his Academy days. He had to force himself out of his narcoleptic tendencies in order to take the exams and subsequently was always falling asleep in the middle of all sorts of things in the tennis-world. Thankfully, there was no strong competition for tennis-Hyoutei that year, and Jirou won most of his matches half-asleep.

"I'm fine," said Jirou, yawning and scratching his head for effect. "Just a little tired, that's all. I had a late night."

Shishido and Gakuto exchanged a glance. "Were you playing video games till five in the morning again?" Shishido asked exasperatedly.

"The Kanto tournament is just around the corner, Jirou! You need your rest or we're going to lose!" scolded Gakuto, his hands on his hips.

"When did you two become my parents?" Jirou asked teasingly.

"Parents my ass!" snorted Gakuto.

"Like I'd marry this bitch," said Shishido simultaneously.

Jirou laughed as the two glared at each other. He hopped up off the bed and stretched, then put an arm around their shoulders. "Admit it, you two really care about each other. And me," he added as an afterthought.

"I do not care about _him_!" they chorused, glaring daggers at the other. Jirou just laughed and hugged them closer. "You guys..."

* * *

Atobe put a hand on his hip and glared at his team. "20 more laps!" he barked just as the team finished the previous 50. There was a collective groan, and Oshitari drawled, "Oi, Atobe, if you're worried about Jirou, you should go see him instead of torturing us."

"Oshitari, 30 laps!" Atobe ordered, obviously in a bitchy mood.

"Go, Atobe. I'll oversee the 20 extra laps," said Oshitari, rolling his eyes. He was like a magnet for stubborn people or something. First Atobe, then Gakuto. Geez.

"You'll slack off," huffed Atobe.

"Atobe-san, I'll make sure the team runs the laps. Including Oshitari-san," said Ohtori, stepping forward.

Atobe regarded the younger boy slowly. Ohtori was trustworthy, and with his height and build, he would definitely command respect. "Very well," said Atobe. "But if I find out any of you were slacking off..." He left the sentence hanging as he glared threateningly at the team, then turned on his heel and left.

Oshitari sighed. "Why is it that he trusts you more than me, his second-in-command...?" he whined to Ohtori, only half-joking.

Ohtori smiled. "Your personality is not as... rigid as one would hope, Oshitari-san," he said delicately, hoping he wouldn't hurt his sempai. "Everyone, let's begin the 20 laps!" he called cheerfully. "Oshitari-san, don't worry, I won't make you run the extra 30 Atobe-san assigned to you while he was in denial about his feelings for Jirou-san."

"He's been in denial since second year of middle school. But I take your point."

* * *

Shishido tilted his head to one side. "Ah, it's our cue to leave, Gakuto," he said, grinning at Jirou. "Your boyfriend's here," he sang teasingly. Gakuto snickered, ruffled Jirou's already messed-up hair and left through a different door, Shishido close behind him.

"How are you, Jirou?" Atobe asked, stepping through the door.

Jirou blinked. "Ah, Atobe! I'm fine, just... my narcolepsy catching up to me. You know how it is with these pesky illnesses," he laughed weakly.

"I thought it was _selective_ narcolepsy," said Atobe, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

Jirou laughed nervously. "Well, you know, sometimes it's uncontrollable. Do you really think I'd choose to fall asleep in the middle of a doubles match with you as my partner?"

"Or maybe your condition is getting worse. Maybe we should get my doctor to have a look at you, Jirou."

"No! No, I'm fine, don't worry. I'll be fine," insisted Jirou firmly, hopping out of bed quickly. "See? I can stand and everything, no big deal, really."

Atobe still seemed suspicious, but let it go. "Well, I trust you, Jirou. If you say it's nothing, it's nothing."

Jirou almost sighed with relief. Atobe was damn perceptive _all the time_, but Jirou supposed that in this world they called 'reality', Atobe wouldn't believe Jirou if he started talking about _magic_. People generally didn't, Jirou knew from experience. His mother, for instance, kept telling him it was all a dream.

"Your family doctor should be here in a few minutes, though he is most likely incompetent and only useful for treating things like the flu," sniffed Atobe disdainfully.

Jirou made a face. "Ne, 'Tobe, do I have to see him?" Jirou whined, widening his eyes. Atobe had a soft spot for his eyes, it was a fact in both this world and the other. "I mean, I don't like him and he doesn't like me, and I'm fine now, so why do I have to see him?"

Atobe sighed like he knew what Jirou was trying to do. "What is it you want me to do, Jirou?" he asked, half-amused and half-exasperated. "You have to be looked at anyway. Your fainting is worrying." He didn't say that it was worrying _him_, but Jirou heard it anyway.

Jirou crossed his arms for a moment, then his eyes lit up as if an idea had struck him, and he climbed back into the bed. "Fine," he said defiantly. "Then I'll just be sleeping until he comes. Good luck trying to wake me up."

The last words Jirou heard was Atobe saying exasperatedly, "Oh, come now, don't be childish, Jirou!"

"I _am_ a child," retorted Jirou with a yawn. "Good night, 'Tobe."

* * *

DISCLAIMER: I think that AtoJi is teh shiznet, but obviously, this is not displayed in canon, so by logical conclusion, I am not the owner of PoT.

This is short, I know, and after the long wait it should really be longer, but I think if I put it off any longer it'll be sitting in my computer forever. So this is what you get. –sheepish laugh-


	4. Chapter 4

Truth and Lies

Chapter 3

* * *

Jirou blinked himself awake, finding himself in his warm bed, his head resting on the softest pillow money could buy. Atobe always demanded the best for himself and his friends, and Jirou had always been Atobe's best friend.

Yawning, Jirou sat up and stretched lazily. It seemed like a normal day in the magical world, and judging by the brightness that had filtered in through his curtains, it was just about time for Jirou to get going to work.

Jirou got up and rubbed his eyes. Work was fun, most of the time, but today it was absolutely necessary. He refused to go back to the tennis world, at least not for a long while. That annoying doctor his family put trust in would just try to tell him that _this_, this magical world, was fake.

Jirou pulled on clothes haphazardly, shaking his head and pinching himself to keep himself awake. He could sense, vaguely, that the doctor had arrived in the other world, and that both he and Atobe were trying to wake him for an examination. Determined to stay in the magical world, Jirou marched out of the room and pulled on his well-worn black cloak, grinning as he grabbed his breakfast sandwich– Haruko, the woman who served as his housekeeper, had obviously come in and made the sandwich. She was really sweet, what with the way she was always fussing over Jirou. She reminded Jirou of his mother, really, and it was a shame he didn't see her as much as he'd like to.

Jirou willed himself intangible and stepped through the door easily, biting into his sandwich cheerfully. The usual defensive spells on his apartment automatically activated as Jirou's presence left. No one was stupid enough to try to get into a magician's apartment, and anyone who tried, thinking that Jirou was harmless because he was always asleep, would be completely humiliated. The traps Jirou had set aimed to embarrass the intruder instead of killing them. Much less messy, and much more legal.

Starting down the stairs, Jirou felt a mixed sort of feeling in his stomach. Either something good was going to happen today... or something very, very bad.

* * *

Instead of going straight to work, Jirou stopped by at Fuji's shop. The always-smiling boy had psychic blood running through his veins, enhanced by the fact that he was a magician who'd majored in foresight (and aced it). He had, post-graduation, opened a fortune-telling shop that was, to Jirou's knowledge, doing quite well. Fuji had admitted to telling some sizzling yet mostly fabricated stories to some of his clients. "Keeps things interesting," he had said, grinning mischievously. "The whole truth, all the time? That's boring."

Jirou had to agree.

"Hello, Jirou-kun," said Fuji cheerily as he opened the door (before Jirou even reached to knock). "You're almost late. Odd how you're the only one my vision doesn't seem to be able to be accurate about."

"Very odd," agreed Jirou as if they didn't have this conversation every time they met up. Fuji was an odd one, really; but so was Jirou.

Fuji stepped aside, and Jirou stepped past him into the shop. Little trinkets of every sort lined the shelves on the walls. Some hung from the ceiling, twirling gently in an ever-present wind. Jirou admired them every time he set foot in the shop, but today he wouldn't comment on the new addition to Fuji's collection. Today he was in a bit of a hurry; while work didn't leave him any room to fall asleep, small talk most certainly did.

When Jirou sat himself down in the chair Fuji used to receive customers, Fuji tilted his head curiously. "Aren't you going to ask about my new trinket?" he asked, sitting in his large, comfy-looking armchair. "You'll like the story, and it's fine if you're late for work. There _are_ other Healers out there, you know."

"I know," said Jirou, sighing. "I just... don't want to go to the other world right now." Fuji was one of the few people in this world who actually knew about his situation.

Fuji chuckled. "Then I suppose I'll tell you the story later. Right, let's get started, shall we?"

"I have a feeling that something was going to happen today, Fuji," said Jirou seriously. "Is it a premonition?"

Fuji's smile slipped off his face. "Well," he said lowly. "Today will be one of the happiest days of your life... and also one of the worst."

Jirou frowned. "What? How is that possible?"

Fuji's eyes opened, and as usual Jirou was struck by their beauty. "Many things will happen today, Jirou. If I tell you more... the future might change for the worse."

"But Fuji–"

"You must rely on your own knowledge to discover the truth. And... Jirou, please remember that you are not the one in the most pain."

"Fuji, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Jirou exclaimed in frustration.

A smile suddenly plastered itself over Fuji's face. "People generally don't. I suggest you get going, Jirou-kun. Your supervisor is about to call you into work because of a crisis. Might be a plague, I'm not sure."

Jirou was about to protest when a voice rang in his mind, _'Jirou! We need you, now! There's been a huge collision between three jumbo magic carpets!'_

Jirou sighed. Fuji was right. Fuji was always right, though Jirou's mere presence probably caused him to think it was a plague. Jirou always clouded Fuji's Sight. '_On my way, chief.'_

"You were wrong," Jirou told Fuji. "It was a three-way jumbo magic carpet collision."

"Ouch," said Fuji, his smile never faltering. "I was only guessing about the plague."

"I know," said Jirou. "I'll see you around, Fuji." He closed his eyes and willed himself over to the hospital.

"Don't forget my advice, Jirou," Fuji added, just as Jirou's form was fading. "Have a nice trip."

Jirou wanted to reply, but Fuji's shop disappeared in a swirl of colour.

* * *

"I'll just heal this up for you, sweetheart," said Oishi, the hospital's best healer, as he bent to give a little girl a brightly colored lollipop. "I'm sorry, this might hurt a little bit. Can you be brave and sit through it a little while? Thank you."

Jirou smiled at this sight; watching Oishi at work was like magic. He could make even the most sullen of patients open up to him. He was especially good with children; one stern word from him and the most stubborn children would open their mouths and say 'ah' obligingly.

Jirou walked briskly past Oishi, who was concentrating so hard on his work that he didn't even look up to say hi like he usually did. Jirou shook his head in awe; that was one dedicated Healer.

"A Healer! Oh, thank the gods," sobbed a hysterical woman. "Please, please, save my son! Please..." she broke down in sobs. Jirou walked past her and took the patient's wrist. He heard himself saying things to comfort her ("Ma'am, don't worry, your son will be fine..."), but it was automatically coming out of his mouth. Jirou's attention was on the teenager lying unconscious on the bed. Jirou sent a little power into the body to sense how badly he was hurt.

He didn't seem too badly hurt; just a hard blow to the head that had conked him out and gotten him bleeding pretty badly. Head injuries were so dramatic; just a little graze and they'd bleed like crazy. His mother must have gotten hysterical at the sight of so much blood.

Jirou sent out healing magic in a slow and steady stream. Healing was simple, but taxing enough that Jirou actually had to pay attention to what he was doing, leaving himself no room to fall asleep and, thus, be woken up by that quack of a family doctor.

The process was simple, and within only a few minutes the boy was coming to and Jirou was being thanked profusely by his mother. Jirou bowed, and turned to leave to attend to another patient when a bright red blur burst through the doors. "Jirou!" it bellowed, and Jirou recognized it as Gakuto. "Jirou, you gotta get out here now! There's this big _thing_ tryin' to destroy this place!"

_What?_ There was no way Jirou was going to allow that to happen!

"Go," said Oishi, Jirou's superior. "The Healers will create a shield around the hospital, so don't worry about us."

"Thanks," said Jirou, bowing respectfully. Then there was a loud boom and the ground beneath them shook. Jirou sprinted out of the hospital, swearing like a sailor. Gakuto ran with him through the winding hallways, saying, "Choutarou found it first and hit it hard, but it just kept getting back up. He called the rest of us, and we've been trying to keep it from destroying anyone or anything in town. Right now we're trying to lure it away into the forest or some place where no one will get hurt, and then we'll take it down there. It's huge, so if it fell over..."

"Instant pancakes," Jirou finished. "Thanks."

The two burst through the main hospital doors and Jirou's eyes widened as he saw the huge monster trudging towards them, occasionally letting out a cry of pain when one of Jirou's team damaged it. It looked like it was made of earth, which meant that it was weak to air and water, but had an advantage over fire.

"Jirou," Gakuto yelled, jumping up high and landing on an invisible wind current. "Jump!"

Jirou did, and a different wind current materialized under his feet.

"It'll take you to Atobe!" Gakuto shouted as they started forwards at high speed. "Good luck!"

Jirou saluted him because the wind in his ears made it difficult to hear himself think, and unlike Gakuto, he had no power over wind to make his voice heard. The two air currents swerved in completely different directions, and in no time Jirou spotted Atobe's silver hair next to Oshitari's dark blue head.

The air current swooped low and Jirou jumped off as soon as he was able. "Need help?" he asked, and the monster suddenly turned towards him and roared.

Oshitari, his hair blown back by the force of the roar, was unfazed. "Yes, you're big scary earth creature, we're all scared of you," he drawled in his Southern accent that somehow made the words even more insulting and sarcastic. "Jirou's shaking in his boots. Now look here!"

The monster's head snapped towards him at the mention of Jirou, and was shot right in the face with a jet of water. The cry it let out was garbled because of the water.

"Jirou," said Atobe, watching the monster, and the monster's head snapped towards him.

"Yes?" Jirou replied, his eyes never leaving the monster's form. The monster turned to him and roared, then threw a barrage of rocks at Jirou. It started trudging towards him, seeming a lot angrier.

Jirou put up a shield, upon which the rocks bounced harmlessly, and Oshitari said, "I think it's targeting you."

"Who'd want to target me? I'm just a Healer," said Jirou, frowning. The monster roared again and picked up the pace. Atobe shot him an exasperated look. "Stop speaking! It just gets more incensed when it hears you speak. Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that," Atobe sniffed haughtily.

_Yeah, well... you suck,_ said Jirou through mindspeak, sulking because he'd been unable to come up with a witty retort. The monster roared anyway, as if it had heard his mindvoice, and threw another barrage of rocks. This time they were magically enhanced: a red glow emanated from every rock.

"I'll take the middle. Oshitari, you take right," said Atobe purposely avoiding the mention of Jirou's name, and Jirou and Oshitari nodded. Jirou focused his power and sent out strikes of bright yellow to destroy some of the rocks. Similar strikes of violet and blue shot towards the incoming projectiles. The tricolored attack hit at the same time and, between them, destroyed every rock. Little explosions formed in the air as the red glow was disintegrated by the strikes, coupled with bits of rock flying in every direction.

"Nice," said Atobe curtly. Jirou could see Gakuto on his air current trying to distract the monster, and caught glimpses of Shishido's blue cap as he disappeared and reappeared on various parts of the monster's body, striking hard every time he did. He couldn't see Hiyoshi, Kabaji or Choutarou, but he knew that they were on the other side of the monster, attacking, because the monster suddenly turned in annoyance and roared, as if to say, "Cut that out!"

_Lure it into the woods,_ said Atobe's mindvoice. _Past the hospital. It responds to any mention of Jirou._

As if on cue, the monster's head snapped to Atobe.

_Hey,_ said Shishido's awed mindvoice. _Whose shield is that around the hospital? I've never seen anything like it before!_

At once, every head turned to look. Jirou's eyes widened at the sight. The shield around the hospital was a huge, rainbow-coloured dome, the colours rippling like there was too much power to keep solid. It was beautiful. Jirou had never seen a shield that wasn't a single solid colour, and his senses, though still dulled, told him that the shield didn't end at the ground, but continued through the earth, forming a perfect sphere of defense.

_We don't have time for this!_ snapped Atobe impatiently. _Lead it to the woods!_

_Bossy, bossy,_ grumbled Shishido, but he teleported away anyway and shouted, _HEY UGLY, JIROU'S OVER HERE!_

The monster apparently didn't like being insulted, because it ambled over to Shishido faster than anyone had seen him move. Kabaji and Hiyoshi, behind the monster, helped it along, shooting a thick stream of fire at it to make it move faster. It didn't damage the monster, but the sheer force of the fire pushed it forward. Choutarou, with them, had his eyes closed, and Jirou could almost _hear_ the "Ikyuu...nyuu...kon!" when he suddenly opened his eyes and hurled a huge orb of glittering silver energy at the monster's back.

All the while, Shishido and Gakuto attracted its attention with insults and Jirou's name to make sure it didn't turn and try to take the three younger men out. Oshitari and Atobe joined Kabaji, Hiyoshi and Choutarou, but Jirou went to help Shishido and Gakuto.

_ARE YOU ALWAYS THIS UGLY, OR IS TODAY A SPECIAL OCCASION?_ Jirou shouted with his mind as loudly as he could the moment he teleported into the forest. _Come and get me, you hunk of moving dirt!_

The monster roared to the heavens and positively _ran_ towards Jirou.

_Ne, Keigo, I hope you have a plan to destroy it real quick because if you don't I'm going to die in like twenty seconds,_ said Jirou casually.

Shishido suddenly appeared and latched onto Jirou, then teleported away.

"Keep shouting," he told Jirou. Jirou obliged (_You call that running? My grandmother could run faster than that– and she's __**dead**__!_), and Shishido just kept teleporting away as he did so, all around the monster to confuse it. The other Hyouteians added to the chaos, chanting Jirou's name and hurling insults over and over.

Soon enough, the monster clutched its head in agony.

_Give your power to Oshitari,_ Atobe commanded them. Shishido teleported himself and Jirou to Oshitari and they let their power flow into Oshitari's body.

Oshitari frowned in discomfort. _You know, maybe you guys should learn some water spells,_ he said, trying to make light of the pain of seven different magical energies flowing into him. _It would make my life a lot easier._

_It's getting up again,_ said Hiyoshi warningly.

_Goddamn,_ replied Oshitari passionately, and he released a steady stream of water at the monster.

Jirou realized, as he watched the multicoloured aura in Oshitari's body, that Oshitari was drawing on their power one by one as his body adjusted to it instead of releasing a single shot of water packed with all the energy. It was smart, really, Jirou decided as he watched the dirt monster start to melt into mud.

_Where is its source of power?_ Gakuto asked, scanning the monster's body. _We have to take it away or the big thing will just reform itself._

An image flashed in their minds, and suddenly Jirou could clearly see the previously well-camouflaged sphere in the middle of the monster's forehead. A magical rune, one used in tracking spells, was carved in its surface.

_Good job, Kabaji_, said Atobe.

_Usu,_ Kabaji replied, and Shishido relenquished his hold on Jirou. _Be right back,_ he said, winking at Choutarou. Jirou smiled as a blush blossomed on Choutarou's face. They were too cute, those two. The Silver Pair.

Then Shishido and his blue cap disappeared, only popping back into existence along the monster's side. He was going straight for the sphere, he was going to yank it out. _'Come on, Shishido,'_ thought Jirou. _'You can do it.'_ It was odd, really, how nervous Jirou was about this. Shishido had done things of this sort a thousand times. Why would this time be any different?

Then Jirou saw it.

Shishido's aura was dim. He had barely enough magic to get the sphere and then get out of the way. If the monster had a back-up rune controlling him, Shishido wouldn't even have enough magic to shield.

As Jirou watched, the light blue glow around Shishido dimmed even further, and Jirou knew that there was no way he would have enough magic to get out of the way after destroying the monster.

There was no way Shishido could save himself from a twenty-storey drop once the monster, without magic to hold its form, fell back to the ground as regular dirt.

"No!" Jirou screamed, willing his consciousness to Shishido's side, but his magic wasn't working. Something was blocking him, some sort of power was stopping him from accessing his magic. "Fuck," swore Jirou. "No, no, no, no, no, Ryou! Somebody save him!"

"What?" asked Choutarou, eyes wide with alarm. "Jirou-san, what do you mean?"

"His magic, it isn't enough! Go! Save him!" Jirou screeched, gesturing wildly. "Quickly, before he–"

Shishido pulled out the sphere, and the monster disintegrated. Jirou watched in horror as Shishido's face turned panicked. He'd realized that he had no more magic, there was no way he could teleport himself out of there.

There were grunts of frustration all around. "I- can't- teleport!" growled Atobe.

"Something's stopping me! Fuck!" cursed Gakuto, staring at Shishido's falling figure helplessly. "Come on, come on, find a last spark or something, Ryou, come on! You can't die, there's just no way you can die!"

Choutarou was crying, and his face was turning red from the effort of trying to teleport. "It's no use!" he wailed miserably. "I can't even move, damn it!"

Jirou tried to run, tried to go over and cushion Shishido's fall with magic, but his legs wouldn't move. They were stuck to the ground, as if by magic.

Magic.

A spell?

Jirou couldn't even look around to check for the caster of the spell. All he could do was watch Shishido as he fell to the ground. His face was peaceful, and he turned to face his friends with a sad smile.

_I love you, Choutarou,_ his voice spoke in their minds. _Goodbye._

Then his body disintegrated in a blast of bright, sky blue energy.

"_NO!_"

Shishido couldn't be dead, he couldn't, he couldn't he couldn't he couldn't. He couldn't be dead!

"He's gone," said Choutarou softly, as if he couldn't believe it. Sobs wreaked through his body and he fell to his knees. "He's... gone. He's gone."

Jirou felt something in his heart die. Shishido had been one of Jirou's closest friends, and now...

Now he was gone... forever.

"_Many things will happen today,"_ Jirou suddenly remembered Fuji's words. "..._Jirou, please remember that you are not the one in the most pain."_

Jirou's gaze fell on Choutarou, sobbing heart-breakingly, and then on Gakuto, tears running down his cheeks and pain obvious on his face.

Choutarou, who had been Shishido's lover.

Gakuto, who had known Shishido so long they were practically brothers.

They... they had lost Shishido forever.

'_But I haven't_,' Jirou realized suddenly. '_I have a second world, a second chance, a second Shishido Ryou!'_ Jirou closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. He hadn't lost Shishido forever, he hadn't. Jirou added a little magic to his attempts. He had to see Shishido alive. He had to.

Then Jirou felt his consciousness slipping away, and for once, he didn't want to come back ever again.

* * *

DISCLAIMER: This isn't a spin-off in Japan, so I'm guessing I don't own Prince of Tennis...?

I... I killed him. I'm sorry. I killed him. I didn't mean to kill him, really, I didn't.

I... don't even know. I actually like Shishido. I like writing his and Gakuto's fights.

Why... did I kill him?

Leave ideas in a review (hint hint ;D).

~Stars of Gold


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